Executive Summary. Today the New York Court of Appeals issued its long-awaited decision on 24-hour shift home health aides who work as “sleep-in” workers. The Court reversed two Appellate Division decisions, Andryeyeva v. New York Health Care, Inc., (“Andryeyveva”) and Moreno et al., v. Future Care Health Services, Inc., (“Moreno”) and ruled that home health aides were not automatically entitled to wages for each hour of the 24-hour shift. The Court deferred to the State Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) interpretation of its own regulation, that non-residential (“sleep-in”) home health aides may be entitled to 13 hours of wages, provided that they receive a sleep break of at least eight hours (receiving five hours uninterrupted sleep) and three hours of meal breaks. At the same time, the Court warned home care agencies that “failure to provide a home health aide with the minimum sleep and meal times required under the DOL’s interpretation of the Wage Order is a ‘hair trigger’ that immediately makes the employer liable for paying every hour of the 24-hour shift, not just the actual hours worked.” For the home care industry in New York State, this decision has enormous ramifications, which we discuss below.
Home > State Law Articles > New York > General (NY) > NY Court of Appeals Upholds 13 Hours Pay for 24-Hour Shift Home Health Aides